Plate 28 Scouts and Guides to the Army of the PotomacBerlin, Maryland
October, 1862
Photographed by Alexander Gardner

The scouts of an
army undergo more hardship and brave greater peril than any other class.
Secrecy being their only safety, their heroic deeds pass unrecorded, and
when the necessity for their services has ceased to exist, with rare exceptions
the brave men are altogether forgotten. Volumes might be written
of their heroic deeds, and the historian of the rebellion will have failed
in his duty if he neglects to chronicle the instances of their great exploits.
Every army had its scouts, but none proved more efficient than those of
the Army of the Potomac. The individuals in this group were attached
to the Secret Service Department of the Army of the Potomac when conducted
by Major Allen Pinkerton. Their faces are indexes of the character
required for such hazardous work. Men of iron nerve and indomitable
perseverance, they braved the halter with perfect consciousness of their
peril, and seldom failed in an undertaking. During the campaign
of the army in front of Fredericksburg, they proved of incalculable value.
Each man was provided with a pass from the Commanding General, written
with a chemical preparation that only became visible when exposed to solar
rays, and on the back of which was penciled some unimportant memoranda,
to deceive the enemy, should the scout fall into his hands. If captured,
he could drop this paper, apparently by accident, without exciting suspicion;
and if successful in his expedition, the pass, after a moment’s
exposure to the light, enabled the bearer to re-enter our lines, and proceed
without delay to headquarters. They generally passed as foragers
within our own lines, always coming in with vegetables, poultry, and the
like, and with the enemy assumes such characters as the occasion might
require. They were really spies, and often spent many days within
the Confederate lines. The Union people of the South sheltered them,
and furnished information that frequently led to the discovery of the
designs of the enemy in time to enable our commanding officers to wholly
frustrate them. A number of the scouts were taken prisoners, some
of whom were executed, while the survivors, scarcely less fortunate, wasted
in cells, long, weary months. A few are still retained in the employ
of the Government, and have proved no less faithful servants in peace
than when confronting the dangers that surrounded the military spy

Caption
taken from original text, Plate 28, Vol. I,
Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War
(Washington: Philp & Solomons, 1865-66).

click to view full image

Scouts
and Guides to the Army of the Potomac. October, 1862. Photographed
by Alexander Gardner.